Local Housing Allowance

Local Housing Allowance (LHA) is the new benefit for people on low income who rent properties from private landlords, which came into effect on 7 April 2008.

This scheme has been designed to be fairer and clearer for tenants and aims to encourage tenants to take on more financial responsibility.

LHA is based on the number of bedrooms you need and not how much the rent is. The actual amount of LHA payable depends on your financial and personal circumstances in the same way as housing benefit.

• LHA Rates

• LHA information for Landlords

• LHA information for Tenants

• LHA Vulnerability and Safeguarding Procedure

• Changes to housing benefit for single people under 35

Local Housing Allowance Rates for Great Yarmouth Borough Council

February 2012	1 Bedroom Shared Acc.	1 Bedroom Self Contained	2 Bedroom	3 Bedroom	4 Bedroom
Broad Rental Market Area 99 Great Yarmouth & Lowestoft	£66.92	£85.00	£103.85	£114.23	£138.46
Broad Rental Market Area 102 Central Norfolk & Norwich BRMA	£58.50	£91.15	£114.23	£132.69	£196.15

Please click here for previous LHA rates

Local Housing Allowance Vulnerability and Safeguarding Procedure

Under Local Housing Allowance (LHA) a tenant cannot simply request that their payments are made to their landlord. To protect vulnerable tenants the council will apply a discretion to pay the landlord. This procedure sets out the guidelines by which officers will make decisions. This procedure has been developed in consultation with stakeholders across the Borough.

 Local Housing Allowance Vulnerability & Safeguarding Procedure

From April 2008, under the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) scheme, benefit payments will normally be sent direct to tenants.

If a Landlord believes that sending direct payments to a tenant will cause the tenant, or the landlord , serious problems, they should follow the link below and complete the   Payment to Landlord Request Form

If a tenant requires their payment to be sent direct to their landlord they should follow the link below and complete the   Payment to Landlord Request Form

Changes to housing benefit for single people under 35

The Government has laid regulations which will limit the amount of Housing Benefit that can be paid to single people under the age of 35.

The new regulations take effect from 1^st January 2012, and the change will apply to all new Local Housing Allowance claims from 1 January 2012.

The limit already applies to single people under the age of 25.

What does the change mean to me?
The new rules mean that if you are a single person aged 25 to 34 living on your own in self-contained accommodation we can no longer base your Housing Benefit on one-bedroom self-contained accommodation.  Instead we must use the Shared Accommodation Rate of Local Housing Allowance, which is a much lower rate and may be lower than the rent you pay to your landlord.

The Shared Accommodation Rate is based on the level of local rents for properties that are not self contained. This usually means that there is a shared kitchen, bathroom, toilet or living room.

From 1 January 2012, the shared accommodation rate will apply to single private tenants under 35 years of age.  This affects people making new Housing Benefit claims from 1 January 2012 straightaway and will affect people who are already claiming Housing Benefit after this, depending on when they claimed.

Many single private tenants aged 25 to 34 living alone in self-contained accommodation who are currently receiving Housing Benefit at the one-bedroom rate will see a reduction in their benefit if the Shared Accommodation Rate is applied.

If you live in shared accommodation already you will already have your benefit worked out using the Shared Accommodation Rate and so will not be affected by the change.

The new rules exclude those existing or new claimants renting from Housing Associations, Local Authority or other social landlords.

When will the change happen?
The date the new rules start depends on the date you claim Housing Benefit, or if you are already claiming, the date you claimed.

If you claim on or after 1 January 2012
We will have to use the Shared Accommodation Rate straightaway to work out your benefit.  This rate can change each month so we can’t say how much it will be in the future.  To give you an idea, the Shared Accommodation Rate for November 2011 for the majority of properties in the Great Yarmouth area is £63.50 (or £58.50 for a very small number of properties).  You can check the current month’s shared accommodation rate on www.direct.gov.uk or www.great-yarmouth.gov.uk under Local Housing Allowance.

If you are already receiving Housing Benefit under the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rules and you were claiming before April 2011
The new rules usually apply nine months after your first ‘anniversary date’ after April 2011.  Your ‘anniversary date’ is the date we look at your Local Housing Allowance rate again on the anniversary of your claim.  For example, if you claimed Housing Benefit in October 2010, your anniversary date was in October 2011.  We have to use the Shared Accommodation Rate from nine months after this, so from July 2012 we will use the July 2012 Shared Accommodation Rate.

First Anniversary Date falling on or after 1st April 2011	Transitional Protection	Effective date of Shared Accommodation Rate
April 2011	9 Months	January 2012
May 2011	9 Months	February 2012
June 2011	9 Months	March 2012
July 2011	9 Months	April 2012
August 2011	9 Months	May 2012
September 2011	9 Months	June 2012
October 2011	9 Months	July 2012
November 2011	9 Months	August 2012
December 2011	9 Months	September 2012
January 2012	9 Months	October 2012
February 2012	9 Months	November 2012
March 2012	9 Months	December 2012

If you receive Housing Benefit under the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rules and you claimed (or start claiming) between 1 April 2011 and 31 December 2011
The new rules usually apply 12 months after you claimed. They apply from your ‘anniversary date’.  For example, if you claimed Housing Benefit in August 2011, your anniversary date is in August 2012 and we must apply the Shared Accommodation Rate from August 2012, using the August 2012 rate.

Date of Claim	Effective Date of Shared Accommodation Rate
April 2011	April 2012
May 2011	May 2012
June 2011	June 2012
July 2011	July 2012
August 2011	August 2012
September 2011	September 2012
October 2011	October 2012
November 2011	November 2012
December 2011	December 2012

You may be affected sooner if you move or have a change in your household
We may have to use the Shared Accommodation Rate from a different date if you move or have a change in your household that means you need a different number of bedrooms.

Examples

- A couple both aged 27 have been claiming Housing Benefit since November 2010. They live in a self-contained one-bedroom flat and so the one bedroom rate of LHA applies.  Their anniversary date is November 2011. They split up and one person moves out in February 2012.  We have to look at the Local Housing Allowance rate again in February 2012 and we must use the Shared Accommodation Rate from the date of the change, February 2012, because this is after the new rules start, they are now a single person under 35 living alone, and the new rules apply straightaway.

- A single person aged 26 claimed Housing Benefit in August 2011 and is getting the one-bedroom rate because they are renting a one-bedroom self-contained flat.  Their anniversary date is August 2012 so we must start using the Shared Accommodation Rate from August 2012.  However, they move to another self-contained one-bedroom flat in November 2011. Because of the move we have to look at their LHA rate again, so their new anniversary date is November 2012 and we must use the Shared Accommodation Rate from November 2012.

If the person had moved to their new accommodation on March 2012 instead of November 2011, we would start using the Shared Accommodation Rate from March 2012 because the move (and our review of the claim) was after the start date of the new rules in January 2012, so the new rules apply from the date of the move.

When the new rules don’t apply
We will not have to use the Shared Accommodation Rate for some single people under the age of 35. The new rules will not apply to you if:

• you rent from a housing association or the Local Authority (council tenant)

• you live in supported housing provided by a housing association, registered charity or voluntary organisation and get a care or support package

• someone else lives with you as part of your household (for example, a partner, child, elderly relative, friend or grown-up child)

• your private tenancy began before January 1989.

• you are severely disabled and get the middle or higher rate care component of Disability Living Allowance

• you need an extra bedroom for a carer who does not live with you but who provides you with overnight care

• you are aged under 22 and have been in the care of a local authority since the age of 16, or have been accommodated by a local authority since the age of 16

• you have lived in a hostel for homeless people or a hostel that provides rehabilitation and resettlement within the community for at least 3 months. You have received resettlement support to help you live in the community.

• you are an ex-offender and your housing has been arranged for you through Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA).

What can you do?

• work out if the new rules apply to you and if they do when they will take effect

• look at the LHA rates to get an idea of how much extra you will need for your rent. You can check the current month’s shared accommodation rate on www.direct.gov.uk or www.great-yarmouth.gov.uk/local-housing-allowance.

• discuss your options with your landlord – they may consider reducing the rent

• consider if you need to move to shared accommodation

• if the new rules will cause you hardship and your circumstances mean it’s difficult for you to move, you can apply to us for a Discretionary Housing Payment. However, even if we decide to pay this, this will only be a temporary solution for a short period of time.

• Consider making a change to your household. If you live on your own, have more than one bedroom and get the one-bedroom Local Housing Allowance rate, could someone else come to live with you? If someone lives with you as part of your household, the Shared Accommodation Rate won’t apply. However, we may have to take a non-dependant deduction off your benefit for them.

If you need any help please contact using the contact details above